Creating New States - POIX304

Why do we often think that the citizens of each state form, collectively, a nation, making their will known through elections? Since 1914 new states have been continuously created and justified on the basis of the principle of national self-determination. We examine the history of the principle, its theoretical justifications and its applications. Issues include: what makes a group of people a nation; how self-determination became a principle of International Law, justifying decolonisation; whether Indigenous peoples have a right to self-determination; whether there is a right to secede; and whether this principle might be abandoned within a united Europe.

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